On the 11th and 12th of June, ESN attended the garagErasmus Annual Meeting 2026 in Napoli, hosted by Università Suor Orsola Benincasa.
The event brought together the garagErasmus network with institutional stakeholders, partner organisations, and, new for this edition, selected external participants.
Our Liaison Officer for the European Youth Forum, Giulio Del Giudice, represented ESN in the meeting and on the panel moderated by garagErasmus Network Manager Carlo Bitetto: “Towards the 40th Anniversary of Erasmus”, where together with Oceans Network and Western Balkans Alumni Association, discussed the Erasmus+ Student and Alumni Alliance (ESAA) involvement, priorities and ideas for the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Erasmus.
ESN presented two best practice activities carried out thanks to the ESAA grant by ESN Portugal: the Youth Policy hackathon and ESN Ukraine with the EUnderstanding Ukraine "Living Library & Exhibition”. As priorities for next year, we will have the reassociation of the UK and Switzerland to Erasmus+, our Erasmus Generation Meeting, which will take place in Wrocław, our page for trainees and traineeships: erasmusintern.org, and the 16th edition of the ESNsurvey: Europe's largest student-led survey focusing on student exchanges and Erasmus+.
The garagErasmus network welcomed a new local chapter in Granada and presented the various achievements of the year, including the foundation of the 1st Erasmus city, Ponte Lambro, in Milan: a residence and public space for students and Erasmus, to be built from regenerated spaces.
During the meeting, garagErasmus Foundation, in collaboration with the Italian Erasmus+ National Agency INDIRE, organised also ERASMUS+ ALUMNI IN ACTION: an opportunity designed for former Erasmus Alumni from across Europe to design and implement projects that promote European values and contribute positively to society, celebrating the 40 years of Erasmus.
The ideas designed by the participants were presented at the end of the project at the Annual Meeting, and members had the opportunity to vote for their favourite.
Among the participants in both events were our local members from ESN Napoli, who also organised activities for the Erasmus Alumni in Action programme.
Attending the Annual Meeting, we had the opportunity to connect with the garagErasmus secretariat, members and participants, spreading our actions and future priorities for the 40th anniversary of Erasmus+ and continuing to foster our fruitful cooperation with the garagErasmus foundation.
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